Individual Details

Lois Belle BERNHARDT was born 13 Aug 1891 in Delray MI (birth certificate lists name as Minnie**). She died 16 Oct 1969, and is buried Hillside Cemetery, St. Clair MI.**** She was a country school teacher.** She was the daughter of Charles BERNHARDT and Clarice/Clara/Claire GILLETTE, and granddaughter of Charles BERNHARDT and Elizabeth CAMPBELL as well as Ira GILLETTE and Francis CROSS.

>From Lois Belle BOWLBY (excerpts May 15, 1962 letter to niece):
You're right about having French blood. My Great Grandfather came from France, but my own father was born in this country. In fact, Del, Jessie, myself and Marguerite are fourth generation Americans on both mother's and father's sides of the family. My mother, English with some Scotch-Irish. We are Huguenot French [Protestants of the 16th 17th Century.] The Irish is also Protestant from NORTH Ireland.

Jessie once had a copy of our family tree. She brought it out to show us when she visited us after her graduation from Milan High School... Anyway, Aunt Alta spent a small fortune tracing her French ancestry back to the French Revolution.

Now for the information you need. I can't go farther back than my grandparents on both sides, to give them Christian names. Grandfather — Charles BERNHARDT married Elizabeth CAMPBELL. They had ten children, my father was the youngest and married for his father. The other two I remember were Alta and George. On my mother's side. Grandfather — Ira GILLETTE married Francis CROSS. They had two children — my mother Clarice (Clara) and a brother Henry who died at 8 years of age Of course you know the next generation — Del, Jessie, Lois, Marguerite and Nelly.

If you are interested, my family name was originally, Duc de BERNHARDT (pronounced Duke de Be'nah') It was changed in the spelling several times by my ancestors.

>From Ruth BOWLBY CARLETON (excerpts from autobiography):
I never knew my maternal grandparents because my mother's father, Charles BERNHARDT, died when she was 3, her mother when she was 16. Grandma was born Claire GILLETTE, coming to Michigan via NY state. Her father was a farmer who was interested in developing various vegetable strains for seeds. My mother told us many stories about her childhood but I don't remember ever hearing about her grandmother. She must have died early on. Mother had an older brother Odelbert + a sister Jessie, later two half sisters, Nellie & Marguerite. Mother's name was Lois Belle but originally it was Minnie.

What little I know about my mother's family is what I remem-ber from stories she told us when we were children — stories that I did not realize until much later we[re] tales from her own childhood. How I wish there had been a tape recorder taking it all in! Perhaps she didn't know too much about her own background. She told stories sometimes about her maternal grandfather but the only thing I recall about her father was that his family had been French refugees, he played the violin + died of TB when she was 3. She was hostile toward her stepfather + to Germans because of him. I was never sure why. Her mother died in a lumber camp where my Uncle Del + her second husband (or perhaps he was her third) were loggers. My Aunt Nellie says their mother was hit on the head in a logging accident + my mother blamed her death on that + lack of care during her illness.

What I do know was that her mother was a nurse who went to the patients' homes + "lived in" so she was unable many times to keep her children with her.

Until her mother died, my mother lived for varying periods with different families. When she was orphaned at 16 a judge in East Jordan (I believe it was that city — at least in Roscommon County) became her guardian. She worked at the courthouse for her keep. I am not sure whether it was the same courthouse that later burned down so her birth certificate + other records were destroyed. This will hamper a search for our "roots" should we some day have the time to immerse ourselves in genealogy.

Mother worked hard but also went to school as much as she was able. She had a lifelong respect for education. Somehow she managed later to get a teacher's certificate from what was known at the time as the Normal School at Kalamazoo (now Western Michigan U) + taught in various rural schools for a time. In those days some of the pupils were older than the teacher because when farm work was needed they had to help out + some could go only during the winter. They were one room schools with students in grades 1 through 8. The teacher boarded with parents or school board members.

When WWI happened, mother wanted to go overseas as a Red Cross nurse so she left teaching + went into training. However she was unable to stand the sight of blood. Uncle Del + his first wife + family were living in Ohio then so she decided to go to that city to work. She boarded with the BIDDLES + worked at FIEDKE's in the jewelry dept, after a period in the umbrella concession at another store.

Mother had 2 half sisters. Nellie had been adopted as an infant on her mother's death by people who ran a hotel. Mother knew where she was, but the new parents did not want Nellie to know she was not their own daughter + asked mother not to visit. I must have been around 11 or 12 when the foster mother died + Nellie was told that she had a brother + sisters. There was immediate contact + after that yearly visits between our 2 families. [end excerpts]

(Note: Comments in [brackets] are from me EXCEPT in letter from Lois Belle BOWLBY -- she actually used brackets.)

Birth	13 AUG 1891	Delray, MI or Romulus, MI
Alt name		Minnie Belle BERNHART
Marriage	18 NOV 1919	Saline, Washtenaw Co., MI - Russell DeVere BOWLBY
Death	16 OCT 1969	St. Clair, St. Clair Co., MI
Burial		Hillside Cem., St. Clair, St. Clair Co., MI
Occupation		country school teacher

Spouse	Russell DeVere BOWLBY (1892 - 1973)
Child	Ruth Evelyn BOWLBY (1920 - 1992)
Child	Robert Roland BOWLBY (1923 - 2008)
Child	Lois Margaret BOWLBY (1925 - 2016)

Father	Charles BERNHARDT ( - )
Mother	Clarice/Clara/Claire GILLETTE ( - )
Sibling	Odelbert BERNHARDT ( - )
Sibling	Jessie BERNHARDT ( - )

Notes